Vampire Mountain
by blackdreamr
Summary: "Now, are you ready? The sun is setting and we must leave tonight..." Seba Nile and Larten Creplsey travel together to Vampire Mountain for Larten's first Vampire Council but things don't run as smooth as they would like - do they ever?
1. The road ahead

**Seba Nile and his assistant, Larten Crepsley travel to Vampire mountain for Larten's first council.**

**I wanted to look at Larten's past, so this popped out! XD**

"What will I need?" I asked my tutor as I dug around our cramped, shanty house looking for worn ropes and warm clothes.

"No ropes, no shoes, nothing that may assist you." He said whilst tying his blood red cape around his shoulders.

I stopped what I was doing and stared incredulously up at him, "What? But I thought you said we were going to climb a mountain?"

"We are Larten," he said with patience, "but Vampires do not use such tools." He placed the lid down on his chest and sat on it. "It is not just a journey; it is a test to separate the weak from the strong and worthy," he stopped and watched my reaction.

"Fine…what about shoes? My feet will get cut to ribbons." I stated, wriggling my toes.

"You are a vampire my boy, you will be fine." He smiled. "Now are you ready? The sun is setting and we must leave tonight if we are to get a good head start."

I looked around me at my dusty old room. Anything was better than this place. I nodded and we stepped out quietly into the cold night air under a full moon, off to Vampire mountain.


	2. Traditions and folly

**Second chapter to Vampire Mountain! I hope it's long enough this time XD**

**All characters belong to the Vampire Master himself: D.S**

After about one week of solid travelling, we finally hit the rough ground and started on a slow, steep ascent up the mountain. At first, I complained almost daily during the torturous trek. My feet were red and raw from the rugged terrain whilst the piercing cold winds kept me from sleeping most nights. Surprisingly, Seba was relaxed and patient with my constant moaning. Perhaps he had been just like me and understood what I felt.

One night when we were sheltering in one of the many of the caves or way stations that lined the mountain, I decided to ask about what I would entail at Vampire Mountain.

"First of all, I should explain, there are four Vampire Princes that…control everything we do as a clan. They are of the highest ranking and are elected through vote of all vampires." Seba narrated as if he'd told it a hundred times. I listened intently, captured by the thought of four stately prince's sitting on grand thrones in a glamorous hall with vampires hanging onto their every word.

"Below the prince's are the ranks of generals. They control, to a lesser extent, the remaining Vampires…us."

"How do you become a General?" I asked.

"By taking the Trials of Initiation," he said slowly, watching me. "The trials are made up of five physical undertakings to prove your character. Most Vampires take them to earn respect amongst their brothers, though some do not.

"At the earliest councils each and every Vampire would have to take them, including the princes, though they could not fail them."

"What do you mean?"

"No one may fail the trials. Some Vampires may die in them but no one is leaves they take them. Only the princes may be excused without punishment."

"Punishment?" I cut in.

"Any Vampire unable to continue or fails their trials will be taken to the hall of death." He replied grimly.

"But…Why?" I asked, confused.

Seba shrugged, "It has always been like that. Those who choose to leave or fail are executed without honour. Those who are unable to persevere are given more respect but…are still killed."

I was about to speak up again when Seba shook his head. "Please, it is just our way. Vampires live hard and we earn respect through strength of body and soul, those who don't are not worthy." He sighed, "You will learn soon enough."

"So the princes can walk off scot-free?" I said louder than intentional.

"In a word, yes." Again I started to voice my opinion…rather heatedly, Seba stopped me. "Trust me when I say, there have only been a few cases of ever such a thing happening. In one, a prince known as Aaron Castl, failed his trials but removed himself from his position to end his life. Many Vampires believe it is better to die with honour than to live with shame." He smiled thinly, "I being one of them, and proud."

I coughed and shifted awkwardly, "I suppose I will get used to it all…" Seba noticed my embarrassment and moved closer.

"I do not know of a single Vampire who has not felt this way when they started out. I certainly did" Seba chuckled. I smiled gratefully. "In fact I recall one time when irked my tutor after saying something on a particularly sensitive subject. He chased after me for several hours before he regained his humour."

"So you didn't get caught?"

"I did not say that…" He said, eyes shining. Shortly I started giggling he smiled and started chuckling too. After a while we were laughing so hard, I fell off my rock which gave cause to a new wave of hysterics. After we had settled down (and I had picked myself up off the ground!) I wondered what had started us off but couldn't remember.


	3. The Vampire hunters

During a particularly heavy snowfall Seba and I rested in a way station huddled around a cackling fire listening to the outside sounds. Suddenly above the whistling wind a loud howl pierced the air. I sat up straight, eyes wide. Seba continued to eat his roasted deer (we usually ate them raw!) unnerved by the cry.

"Seba? Should we be worried?" I asked stiffly.

"No. Wolves will not harm us, do not fear, Larten." He smiled warmly.

"They won't?" I said, unconvinced and suddenly not hungry. Seba shook his head.

"It is said that we are descendant from wolves, they are our blood cousins." I gawped at him.

"No!" I yelped.

"I did not say it was true, it is a legend." Seba explained. I sighed. "Though where legends are involved…who really knows." He shrugged but as my face turned from relief to horror. The wolves continued to howl throughout the night. I couldn't sleep.

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"Larten wake up!" A voice hissed in my ear.

"Wha'? ... Why?" I mumbled, turning over away from the voice.

"Larten!"

"Alright!" I snapped jumping up. Seba clasped his hand over my mouth.

"Quiet!" He snapped in a whisper. When I looked up his face was full of unease.

"What's happening?" I asked after he released his hand.

"Shh, run now, talk later." He answered as we grabbed what little we had and ran out into the snow. From outside the wind blew upwards so we were being pushed by it. And with the wind, it carried the gruff voices of people further down the mountain. We ran until we reached a small clearing within a group of trees and ducked down low.

"Who are they?" I asked through chattering teeth.

"Vampire hunters." He replied bluntly. Just then we heard a loud bark followed by a painful yelp and growling and snarling. A single wolf darted off into the bushes in front of us; it had a shallow cut on the base of its back just above the tail. More snarling and yowling rose above the wind.

"Get that dog back!" A voice wafted over to us, cue for more snapping of jaws. Just as we were about to get up, a whole pack of wolves tore past us.

"What-?"

A sudden gunshot blast ripped through the air. I froze in mid-stoop.

"Damn wolves," the voices were getting closer. I looked to Seba a silent question on my lips and in my eyes. He looked just as shocked but he gestured for me to follow him down the slope.

"Joe, check down there will you." Said that same voice.

My heart pounded as we crawled away and I could hear the sound of footsteps trailing us.

"Larten…stay here, and stay low." Seba growled softly. I nodded stiffly and crouched down. Seconds past like minutes in disguise. Then I heard a crunch to my left and hunkered down even lower as I came face to face with the man's boots. There was a rustle in the leaves and he turned his attention away from where I was hiding.

"Why is it so-." He got no further when Seba pounced out of the bushes and pushed him to the ground…hard.

"Ack-." He squawked when his head hit the rock. Seba took no chances and breathed the vampire's special knockout gas. The man's eyes bulged then closed.

"Larten, help me."

I stepped out from the brush and helped Seba drag him past the trees.

"Won't he tell them what happened?" I asked.

"Yes, but hopefully we will be far from here when he does." He stood and dusted off his clothes. "Let us go."


	4. Left on a ledge

**Ok, I realised this should have been at the end of the 3****rd**** chapter but oh well…**

"Larten keep up, we have a long way to go now that they have taken the main path."

We were climbing up a very steep path in a snowstorm. _'Madness'_ I thought as I tried to avert my eyes from the gut-wrenching drop on my right. A cold blast of air whipped at my back.

"_Look…there…them."_

I froze. The wind had blown the men's voices to us.

"Seba!" I called out, my visibility clouded from all the snow.

"Larten? What is it?" I could see his shadow turning and then nothing. A short cry let me know and my heart dropped with it.

"Seba!" I cried and rushed to the spot I saw him, not caring about my own safety at that point. I pushed through the snow thick air and found him dangling from the broken ledge where he had been standing.

"Hold on." I dropped to my hands and knees and reached out for his hand. Gingerly, he found my hand and grasped it tight. "On the count of three," he nodded, "one… two… thre-." Something struck me from behind and I fell onto my stomach. My grip slipped but I managed to hold on. Gritting my teeth I looked to see what had hit me on the back of my head. A man stood above me, arm drawn back as to strike me again. My heart stopped, whatever was going to happen, Seba would fall.

"Got you now…" The man sneered. And if he hadn't had gloated over his prey there would have been two less vampires in the world. I could see him as he started to swing his arm and let go of my tutor with my right hand and snatched at the man's ankle. He howled as I pulled his leg out from under him and he fell onto his back, half his body over the edge and half on the path. I grabbed Seba with my right hand again and dragged him onto the ledge, both gasping and shaking. We smiled shakily at each other.

A short crack of a gunshot hailed from above and a half a second later the bullet zipped past my ear. Seba and I ducked under a hanging rock outcropping.

"I think they found us." Seba said as he shuffled closer to the rock wall. I nodded, too nervous to speak. It was only then that I felt a sharp pain at the base of my head. I cried out and bit my tongue. I hadn't noticed it when I was adrenalin pumped but now I felt light-headed.

"Is…. it bad?" I wheezed.

Seba studied it, "It is a good thing it was not a sharp object," was all he said before rubbing spit into the cut. "There is not much I can do about a bruise, the saliva will help but not as much as I, or you, would like."

"How far away are we?" I asked.

He glanced at me, "Why? Do you expect me to carry you?" He smiled.

"No…but if the opportunity arises…" I suggested and Seba laughed.

"We are not far," he said moving out of onto the path.

After a few seconds I asked; "They're close aren't they?" Seba nodded silently.

"If you begin to feel faint, we shall stop. I do not want _you _to be falling over the side." He smiled tightly.

Slowly we crawled out into the open. We could hear the sound of men's gruff voices above us.

"Stay as close as you can to the wall, they have the upper hand." Seba instructed.

"Literally…" I mumbled. We stayed like this for a couple of minutes until the sounds grew faint. "Are they gone?" I asked, gazing up at the path above us.

"I would not test the waters just yet." Seba whispered.


	5. The warning

**Hello all! I'm back :) And I'm hoping you'll continue reading my story as I'm trying to make longer chapters from now and hopefully will go back and lengthen the first 4 chapters.**

**Larten and Seba do not belong to me (oh how I wish they would!) but there will be some OCs chucked in this story.**

**Enjoy!**

Gingerly, we slowly made our way along the narrow strip of rock that served as our path. Every now and then the snow eased off and I would catch a glimpse of the sheer drop to my right. I couldn't see the very bottom of the ravine but huge dagger-like rocks jutted out of the mist. They reminded me of Rakel's bed of needles at the Cirque Du Freak…I hated reminders…

Ahead of me, Seba was pushing through the deep snow when he stopped short. He motioned me foreword.

"What is it?" I asked anxiously, expecting to find more trigger happy humans.

"Can you smell it Larten?"

I sniffed the air. "I don't know...I think…Wait," a brief scent caught my attention. It was sweet but definitely not pleasant. "Yes, I smell it. What is it?"

Seba turned slowly, "blood…it is the smell of death."

I blanched. I hadn't been a vampire for long (in vampire terms anyway) and I was still a bit green when it came to death.

Steeling myself I asked, "Who…? A human?"

Seba sighed, "No, it is the blood of a vampire."

After what seemed like hours but what was probably only half an hour, we came across a collapsed rock ledge and carefully climbed up onto the main path. The further we had come the stronger the scent of blood had become. Soon the air was thick with it. I pulled my coat around my face to keep from gagging on it. Even Seba had wrapped a cloth around his mouth and nose.

Although no sun could be seen through the dense snow, it was getting dark and the temperature was dropping lower and lower. My hands and feet were getting numb and my head swam from the blow earlier.

"Seba?" I called out weakly, vision blurring.

He looked back and frowned. "Larten, keep up!" He snapped, marching forward.

I was surprised and a little hurt, but I knew something terrible had happened and Seba needed to know what had occurred and possibly help any survivors. I knew we were both thinking of the same thing. There must have been a battle between the humans and vampires. My stomach dropped at the thought. Most people assumed, by superstitious nonsense, that vampires were invincible unless they had the right weapons; crucifix, steak, holy water etc.

However, these were clearly no ordinary village folk. They were true vampire hunters. They didn't have any holy water to defend them. They had brought guns and knives and dogs with them. They knew what they were doing.

They were going to wipe us all out.

I struggled to keep up with Seba and every step he took I felt I was taking two backwards.

"Seba, please slow down!" I cried but the wind stole my voice. My head was throbbing painfully now and I could barely make out my master in the blizzard. Shielding my eyes from the bitter flurry of snow, I pushed on, hoping we wouldn't have far to go.

I was right.

I saw Seba come to a standstill on a small rock outcrop just up ahead of me. Seizing my chance to catch up I half jogged to his left hand side. Then I realized why he had stopped here.

In front of us, the snow drift sloped downward and spread itself out into a wider area then the path. What should have been a quiet, secluded spot had been transformed into a battle ground.

My heart froze and for a second I couldn't breath. Bodies were strewn everywhere. There were about eleven in total. Some were missing limbs and others had swords and knives sticking out of different parts of their bodies. Underneath them the snow had been stained a deep red. From what I could gather they were all vampires. I shook my head, trying to clear and organise my thoughts. Next to me Seba hadn't moved. His face was drawn and dark, his fists clenched at his sides. He was looking off towards the right. Following his line of sight I spotted a small pile of objects that looked as though they had been set alight. Focusing closer I realised it was made up of hearts!

The world grew hazy and I felt light headed. This wasn't just a random attack. Whoever did this meant it as a warning.

Seba spoke softly, "We cannot stay here. Come, we have to keep moving." He started walking again.

Frowning at him I said, "But what about -"

"No!"

He shouted with such force that I took an involuntary half step back.

He glanced back at me and spoke in a gentler tone, "We can not help them now. The best we can do is to keep moving and warn the others at Vampire Mountain."

Thinking back on how much time had passed between us and the humans we had come across I said, "This couldn't have been the work of the humans we fought. Even on the main path they wouldn't have caught up this quickly."

Seba nodded, "The group we met were probably tailing the ones who did this in case any other vampires showed up. Vampires like us."

Shaking, not just from the cold, I asked quietly, dreading the answer, "Seba…How many do you think there are?"

He stared at me, his eyes haunted by the question but even more so, by the answer he was about to give. "Perhaps enough to kill us all."


End file.
